Wringer-gearing for washing-machines.



0. G. PFEFFER. WRINGBR GEARNGIOR WASHING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED1330.27, 1911. RENBWED MAY 2, 1913.

Patented Deo. 30, 1913.

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OTTO G. PFEFFER, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, .ASSIGNOR T0 UTAHN'ADEVELOYMNT COMPANY, or SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, A CORPORATION OF UTAH.`

WRINGER-GEARING FOR WASHING-MACHINES.

Application o (117 411710171, it muy] conce-rn Be it known that l.O'r'ro Pi-'i-i|iir.n.y a t citizen of the United States. and residiniriat Salt Lake City; in the eouutv ot' Salt lialre and State ot Utah.lhave invented eertain new and useful Improvements in VVringer-Gearingfor 'ashingrMat-hines, otn which the following' is a specification.

This invention relates to drivingr Igearing'. and more particularly towringer driving gearing for washingv machines.

ln operating a wringer by powei` it is dedrive the wringer in oppositedi-J so that it' the wringer should bereversed to permitv the clothes tobe taken out. ln view of the fact that wringers are operated byinexperienced operators, the mechanism must be simple in itsconstruction and operation, and the controlling mechanism should be soarranged as to be easily manipulated.,

One of the objects of this invention therefore iste construct a gearingin which the driven member, for instance the wringer shaft, can bedriven reetion s at will in either direction, and in which thismechanism will consist of few parts so as to be simple in itsconstruction and operation.

Another object. is to provide manual controlling means for the gearingwhereby the driven member may be controlled at will. and to constructthis controlling' means so as to be susceptible of operation byunskilled operators.

Further objects will appear from the detail description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a section on the line ll Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is a section onthe line .Of-2 Fig. l.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 10 designates a washing machineeasing.l and 11 a drum arranged to rotate therein in reverse directionsand arranged to receive Speeicatlon of Letters Patent. filed December2?, 1911. Serial No. 668.l86. Renewed May 2. 1913. y Serial No. 765,133.

`rod, one between the clothes to be Washed. The washing machineconstruction is fully shown and ldescribed in my application Serial No.668,184 tiled of even date herewith.- The easing body is supported in apair of end frames one of which is shown `at l2. 'lhese end tramesI arepreferably malleable castings, while the casing body is of sheet metal.The end frame 12 has secured thereto or cast integral therewith a seriesof bearing lugs two of whichare shown at 13 and llt. A bracket l lateiited Dee. 30, l 913.

lo is bolted to the. lugs and forms caps for the bearing lugs. A maindrive shalt 17 is mounted in the bearingr lugs and has mounted thereon a,gear '1S meshing with a pinion on a motor shaft (not shown). rl`heshat't 17 formsI the main drive. shaft for driving a" reversing'mechanism l'or the drum' 1l. and foi' driving lthe wriueer ashereinafter described. ".llie reversing: mechanism and its relation withrespect. to the wringer driving: mechanism is fully shown and describedin my application Serial No; (368,185 filed ot' even date herewith.

The wringer is generally designated by 60, and (il designates thewringer shaft. This shaft. has mounted thereon a bevel gear GQ meshingwith a bevel zgear 63 on a cross shaft 64 mounted in bearingv lugs 65and 6G on thc end frame l2. A bevel gear 67 is mounted on the lower endof the shaft (i4 and meshes with two bevel gears GS loosely mounted uponthe drive slial't 67. A vjaw clutch member or sleeve 69 is s )lined uponthe drive shaft 1T and is provide( jaws arranged jaws upon the bevelgears G8. AV clutch fork 70 is loosely mounted upon a shaft or rod 7lslidingly mounted in bearings in the lugs 13 and 14. 4This rod hasrigidly mounted thereon tivo collars 72 and 7f3-respectively. andsprings 74 and 75 are mounted Yupon thisl collar 72 and the fork, andthe lother between the collar 73 and the fork. A vertical shaft 76having an operating handle 77 is mounted 'loi' rotation in bearing lugs78 and 79 toi-ined on the end frame l2. A disk 80 is mounted upon and.connected to the lower end oi the shalt 7G' and is provided with a crankpin 8l connected -by a pilman vorflink S2 with the col- ,lar 72. The.disk' is provit'le'd with ay series olE recesses S3 adapted to beengaged by aspring` latch 94 mounted upon the frame l2.

The connection of the drive shaft with either ot the gears GQ will causethe drive. shaft, to rotate the ivi-inner shaft in` reverse directions.The controlling vmeans. described above, vfor 'causing such a connectionot the gears, is so const ruet'ed that the wringer shaft may be drivenin one or another direction at the will ot the operatoix ln thedrawings. the mechanism is shown in neutral position at which time/bothgears 68 are loose on the shaft. li tlie'hanwith to engage withcot'iperating.

end

dle 77 and the shaft 76 are now rotated through a quarter of arevolution in one direction the wringer shaft will be driven in onedirection, while if the handle and the shaft are tur'ned from neutralposition in`the opposite direction, the direction of rotation of thewringer shaft will be reversed.

It will be noted that the controlling mechanism has two neutralpositions, namely one in which the crank pin 8l is in the position shownin Fig, 2, and another position in which the crank pin will bediametrically opposite. The shaft 76 can however be turned from eitherneutral position in any desired' direction to cause the wringer shaft tobe driven in any desired direction. will also be noted that when theshaft is in either of its clutch engaging positions, the clutch canY bethrown to n'eutral position by turning the shaft in either direction.This construction is of great advantagel in washing '.machines, whichare operated by unskilled operators, and in` which the operator isliable to become excited (when the clothes are tangled or caught) andforget in which way the handle should be turned to throw out the wringershaft. With this construction however the operator is not required toremember this. lsince the shaft handle can be moved in either directionto neutral position. The latch 84 will hold the shaf in any of itsadjusted positions.

The handle 77 can be moved to its limit to throw in the clutchirrespective of the 35 posit-ion of the clutch member. This is due tothe fact th'at the connection between the handle and the clutch member69 is a yielding one (through the springs 74 and 75). Thus if the handle77 is operated to throw the clutch member 69 in while the shaft 17 isstationary and While the jaws ofthe clutch member are opposite thecoperaling jaws on the bevel gears, the clutch member '69 will be moveduntil the jaws thereon eni5- gage the jaws on the bevel gear and furtherlnovement of the handle Will serve to compress one of the springs 74 or75. As soon as the shaft 17 starts to revolve, or revolve sufficientlyto aline the jaws on the clutch 0 'member with' the recesses on thebevel gear, the parts will snap together under the action of thecompressed'spring. y.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction wit-houtdepartingfrom this invention, and it is thereforeto be understood that this invention is not to be limited to thespecific construction shown and described.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is: A-

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a driveshaft and a driven shaft, 'of bevel gears on one of said shafts, a bevel'gear on the other of said shafts meshing with said first bevel gears, aclutch for connecting either of said rst bevelgears with their shaft,and means for shifting said clutch, said means being movable from. anoperativeposition in two directions to a neutral position to disconnectsaid first bevel gears from their shaft.

2. In a machine of the classdescribed, the combination with a drive'shaft and a driven shaft., of bevel 4gears on one of said shafts, abevel gear on the other of said shafts meshing with said first bevelgears, a clutch for connecting either of said rst bevel gears withytheir shaft, and a rotatable member for shifting said clutch, saidmember having two neutral positions and an intermediate operativeposition. 3. In a machine of the class described, the

combination with a drive shaft-,and a driveny shaft, of bevel gears onone of said shafts, a bevel gear on the other of said shafts meshingwith said first bevel gears, a clutch for connecting either of saidfirstbevel gears with their shaft, and a rotatable member for shifting saidclutch to connect and disconnect said first gears to and from theirshaft, said member having successive operative and neutral positions,and having a plurality of operative positions and a plurality of neutralpositions.

4. In a machine of the class describe-d, the combination with a driveshaft and a driven shaft, of bevel gears on one of said'shafts,

a bevel gear on the other of said shafts meshing with said first bevelgears, a`clutch for connecting either of said first bevel gears withtheir'shaft, a rotatable crank disk connected to shift said clutch, saidcrank disk having a plurality of recesses, and a detent engaging saidrecesses.

5. In a machine of t'he class described, the combination with a driveshaft and a driven shaft, of bevel gears on one of said shafts, a bevelgear onthe other of said shafts meshing with said first bevel gears, aclutch for connecting either of said first bevel gears with their shaft,a rotatable controlling shaft, and a crank on said shaft hav- `ing ayielding connection with-said clutch to shift the same as saidcontrolling shaft is rotated.

6. In a machine yof the class described, the combination with a 'driveshaft 'and a driven shaft, of bevel gears on one of said shafts, a bevelgear on the other of said shafts meshing with said first bevel gears, aclutch for connecting either of said first bevel gears with their shaft,a sliding rod, a fork thereon engaging said clutch, a rotatablecontrolling shaft, and a crank on saidshaft connected to said slidingrod. i

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a driveshaft and a driven shaft, of bevel gears on one'of said shafts, a bevelgear on the' other of said shafts meshing with said first bevel gears, aclutch the opposite direction through said first gear and the other ofsaid pair of gears, and a rotatable manually operable member connectedto shift said controlling means, said member having two operative.driving positions corresponding to the two directions o 8. vWringerdriving gearing for washing l drive, and said member being movable frommachines, comprising a drive shaft, a either operative driving positionin either -Wringer operating driven shaft, a bevel gear direction to aneutral position to disconnect on one of said shafts, a pair of bevelgears i l Jor connecting .either of said first bevel gears k with theirshaft, a sliding rod, a fork thereon engaging said clutch, a springbetween said rod and said fork, a rotable controlling shaft, and a crankon said shaft-.connected to said sliding rod.

10 said shafts.

0n the other of said shafts arranged to mesh y In testimony whereof Iafix my signature with the first gear, means for controlling in presenceof two witnesses.

said gears, constructed and arranged tol OTT() G. PFEIFFER. cause the.drive shaft to drive said driven i Witnesses: 15 shaft', in onedirection through saidfirst HENRY M. HEMEL,

gear and one of said pair of gears, and in i MARIE E. PAUCK.

